Kosher Festival a Hit in Florida

In the midst of a crowded banquet hall Sunday, Israeli-Moroccan Nikol Zrihen was serving falafel pitas.

The Chabad at the Beaches member was one of dozens of volunteers who cooked and served a bit of Jewish culture to the Beaches community at the Kosher Food Festival in Jacksonville Beach Sunday.

“Food, it brings the families together,” Zrihen said. “If there’s food, you always know there’s going to be people.”

About 400 people attended the The Kosher Food Festival, organized by Chabad at the Beaches.

“We all enjoy good food,” said Leah Kurinsky, co-director of Chabad. “In some sense, it’s a unifier.”

People of all ages and religious backgrounds stopped by the Ribault Garden Club reception hall, where the festival took place Sunday.

“Food just talks to people’s hearts,” Kurinsky said. “It really does. It’s almost an emotional experience.”

The festival featured several traditional Jewish foods, including challah bread, potato knish and a traditional Jewish cookie, rugalach.

Luisa Bratton, who served the popular matzah ball soup, said the dish — and other kosher foods — are important to the Jewish culture.

“It’s something very traditional and meaningful,” Bratton said of the soup.
Yossi Wagshul, who prepared and served the festival’s potato pancakes, latkes, said he enjoys people’s reactions when they receive the latkes and the apple sauce for dipping.

“You get to put a happy face on everybody,” he said.

But the underlying purpose of the festival, Kurinsky said, was sharing with the community how easy it can be to eat kosher.

“It teaches both Jewish and non-Jewish that kosher is easier than what you think,” she said. “It’s an eye-opening experience.”

According to Kurinsky, to eat kosher means to follow strict dietary guidelines as ordained by God in the Torah, the Jewish bible. The kosher dietary standards date back more than 33 centuries.

Examples of kosher foods include whole fruits and vegetables. Certain meats are also kosher, including beef, chicken and duck. Non-kosher meats include pork and shellfish.

Carol Lynch, a Ponte Vedra resident who is not Jewish, volunteers with Chabad and enjoys eating kosher foods.

“I don’t cook any of this food,” Lynch said. “It’s new to me, and I love it.”
Besides the food, Lynch said she enjoyed the festival’s sense of community.
“It’s a wonderful community of people giving back to the community,” she said. “It’s good to be a part of it.”

Kurinsky said about 45 volunteers helped make the event a possibly this year. It’s the third Kosher Food Festival hosted by Chabad.

The first festival was in 2005, and the last one took place in 2007. Kurinsky said she hopes the festival will eventually become an annual event to take place right before Hanukkah.

“People have been so supportive and so happy to do this,” Kurinsky said. “It was always something that people from all different backgrounds of the community seemed to enjoy.”

for more info for future events, log on to www.ChabadBeaches.com